Thursday 18th—I did not get to my berth till four in the morning, and was up again at eight to attend to the chronometers, &c. I found that, amidst heavy rain and thick weather, with a light southerly wind, we were passing numerous icebergs, many of them bursting with a report like the roar of heavy artillery. The water was getting quite smooth, and hardly any motion in the ship was perceptible. It was clear that we were now fast approaching the “Pack,” and due preparations were accordingly made for it. The “crow's nest” was duly installed at the mast-head, with all the customary honours; and as it is an important and very necessary item in the equipment of every vessel voyaging in the Arctic Seas, the following description of it may not be uninteresting.

The “Crow's Nest” is a light cask, or any similar object, appointed for the look-out man aloft to shelter himself in, and is, in large ships, generally at the topmast-head. In smaller vessels, however, it is necessary to have it as high up as possible, in order to give from it a greater scope of vision than could be attained lower down. Consequently, in the Prince Albert it was close to the “fore-truck,” that is, completely at the mast-head. In our case, it was a long, narrow, but light cask, having at the lower part of it a trap, acting like a valve, whereby any one could enter; and was open at the upper part.